More than a quarter of the world’s rivers are polluted by pharmaceuticals such as acetaminophen, nicotine, caffeine, hormones, antibiotics and other drugs. Water contamination represents an environmental and global threat, according to research by the University of Yorkin the United Kingdom.
The study analyzed 258 rivers in more than 100 countries to assess the impact of the pharmaceutical industry on the environment through a global monitoring project, made in partnership with scientists around the world. Among the most polluted are rivers in Pakistan, Bolivia and sub-Saharan African countries such as Ethiopia. The Amazon River and Nordic countries such as Iceland and Norway had a good rating.
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Low-income countries and places without sewage treatment, with poor water management and where medicines are manufactured are among the most polluted.
The most common drugs were carbamazepine, used against epilepsy, and metformin, used in the treatment of diabetes. The concentration has reached “potentially toxic levels” to populations and marine life. Hormonal drugs, for example, induce a sex change among marine animals.
“Environmental exposure to active pharmaceutical ingredients harms ecosystems and potentially human health through mechanisms such as antimicrobial resistance,” explains John Wilkinson, study coordinator.
See the conclusions:
– Pharmaceutical pollution contaminates water on all continents;
– Strong link between a country’s socioeconomic status and pollution;
– Pollution is linked to regions with populations with a higher average age, as well as unemployment and poverty rates;
– The most polluted countries in the world are the least researched, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, South America and South Asia;
– Activities associated with pollution include dumping waste into rivers, lack of basic sanitation and manufacturing of pharmaceuticals.
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